“Gid‘on realized that he was the angel of Adonai and said, ‘Oh no! My Lord! Adonai! Because I’ve seen the angel of Adonai face-to-face!’ But Adonai reassured him, ‘Shalom to you, don’t be afraid, you won’t die!’ Then Gid‘on built an altar there to Adonai and called it “Adonai-Shalom”; to this day it remains in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri.”-Judges 6:22-24
When we last left off, Gideon had just realized his eyes had set themselves upon the Lord Almighty and he was afraid he was about to die.
Why would he think that?
Because of the Torah stipulation that says no man can look upon the Lord and live.
We get this decree from Exodus Chapter 33 as follows:
“But Moshe said, ‘I beg you to show me your glory!’ He replied, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce the name of ADONAI. Moreover, I show favor to whomever I will, and I display mercy to whomever I will. But my face,’ he continued, ‘you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive‘”.-Exodus 33:22-24
So why didn’t Gideon die?
The answer to that question is simple.
Because what Gideon saw was a MANIFESTATION of the Father and not the PERSON of the Father.
Let me say that again for the thick-skulled.
What Gideon saw was a physical manifestation of the Father.
He did NOT stare straight into the essence of the Father Himself.
If he had, he wouldn’t be standing anymore.
Got it homies?
And by the way, this manifestation of God supports all the more just how nonsensical the trinitarian doctrine is.
Simply because this Angel of YHWH is NOT any one of the 3 entities the gentile church defines as the trinity.
Anyways, I digress.
To get back to our original topic, Gideon assumed he was a man whose life would soon be over.
So God had to assure him all would be okay.
The Angel of the Lord tells Gideon…
“Shalom to you,
don’t be afraid,
you won’t die!”
A quick reminder about the true meaning of the word Shalom.
It doesn’t just mean “peace” as commonly understood.
Not to sound all New Agey or anything, but it also carries the idea of abundance, harmony and well being.
Basically it means to be in good favor with God.
Because when your relationship with your Creator is solid, it doesn’t matter if the world around you is going to hell in a hand basket, you can rest assured you’re safe.
Gideon received the ultimate reassurance directly from the Lord Himself and to commemorate this moment, he went ahead and built an altar on the spot.
Take notice of the part where it says “to this day it remains in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri”.
The phrase “to this day” shows whoever wrote this part of the Book of Judges personally knew of this location in his time.
Remember, the Book of Judges was pieced together by one Hebrew compiler or editor who drew from various sources.
And keep in mind, the events in this book took place over a period of about 350 years.
One final point I need to make is that this altar Gideon built was NOT to be some new place where sacrifices would be offered up to the Lord.
The official place of sacrifice was to be at a separate location the Lord ordained.
Again, what Gideon built was a memorial to commemorate the awesome revelation of the Lord that had just taken place before him.
Here’s the spiritual takeaway for today.
Have you received a word of Shalom from the Lord recently?
I’m not talking about a word of Shalom from your disbelieving parents, your boss or the peace the world tries to give you.
I’m talking about relying on the rock solid reassurance of SHALOM only the God of Israel can give you.
Because in a world gone frickin’ mad, it’s only His Peace that matters.
Over and out.
My question is, how was this altar Gideon build, kept without sacrifices offered there up to the Lord. We know that ‘Altar’ is for sacrifice. SHALOM.
Hi Abraham, it doesn’t really say how this altar was built. I know altars were normally built for the purpose of sacrificing but weren’t they also sometimes built to commemorate important eventsas what Gideon did here?